The endangered child: the personal identification of children in forensic anthropology.

Abstract

Introduction The identification of children's remains in forensic anthropology is hindered by the paucity of techniques usually employed to provide such identification in adults. For instance, whilst dental and skeletal ageing in the child is widely agreed to be more accurate than in adults, ancestry, sex, and stature assessments are less well-established, and many techniques remain controversial. Following a biological profile, the anthropologist will endeavour to provide a personal identification for the remains based on evidence of dental treatment, previous injuries and any distinguishing characteristics the individual may display. However, young children rarely visit the dentist, receive extensive dental treatment or surgery, and they may not have been exposed to ante-mortem trauma or infections during their short lives. The murder of a child is highly emotive and often creates intense media coverage and public concern, making their recovery and identification more pressing and objectivity more difficult to maintain. This paper outlines some of the methods currently in use to identify human skeletal remains of children in forensic anthropology, and discusses their advantages and limitations. The child and the law In 1998, the number of missing children in the United Kingdom (UK) was reported at 80,000 by the ICMEC (International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children) and adolescent suicide rates also remains high. Cases of child murder in the United States (US) have risen by 50% in the last 30 years and between 40-150 forensic cases involving children are handled annually [I]. In England and Wales, children under one year of age are most at risk of homicide (82 offences per million), compared to the overall risk of 15 per million in the total population [2]. Humanitarian investigations, such as those carried out by the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team (EAAF) have recovered children's remains from mass graves in Guatemala and Argentina. An investigation of the Dos Rs massacre, in El Peten (1982) revealed that 47.3% of the listed victims were children, with the youngest victim only a few days old. In many cases, identification of these and the adult victims, by DNA analysis is futile as often no family members survived